1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a method of treating or preventing the complications associated with diabetes mellitus, especially neurovascular complications, using thymoquinone (TQ).
2. Description of the Related Art
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by hyperglycemia (high glucose in the blood), which results either from insufficient production of insulin (type 1 diabetes) or from a cellular insensitivity to insulin in the blood. Diabetes mellitus is a growing chronic disease that adversely affects the lives of millions of people around the world, and is among the major causes of death especially in developed countries. It has been a most distressing disease that can develop to a seriously life threatening condition. The effects of diabetes mellitus include long-term damage, dysfunction and failure of various organs. The main associated complications include cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy lead to disability, and reduced life expectancy.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a slow progressive retinal disease and occurs as a consequence of long-standing accumulated functional and structural impairment of the retina by diabetes. The cause of vision loss in DR is multi-factorial and remains unknown. Recently, early retinal neurodegeneration was suggested to play a key role in the development of DR. Features of DR include increased retinal vascular permeability, loss of neurotropic support and apoptosis.
The global prevalence of DM continues to increase and is highest in the Middle East. The overall crude prevalence of type two DM (T2DM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is 21.3-23.7% with an age-adjusted prevalence of 21.9-31.6%. The economic burden of diabetes is growing worldwide. The average healthcare cost for patients with diabetes is 2-4 times that of non-diabetics where the major component of the direct cost (estimated to be >80%) is related to hospitalization, mainly resulting from chronic albeit preventable complications. The global healthcare expenditures on diabetes alone is projected to amount from US$376 billion in 2010 to US$490 billion in 2030. The estimated annual medical cost of diabetes care in Saudi Arabia is enormous and could amount to Saudi Riyal 15-25 billion.
Currently, no drug has been particularly proven to ameliorate the neurovascular complications of diabetes. Therefore, it would be desirable to find a breakthrough drug in the management of complications of DM, especially neurovascular complications such as retinopathy.
Thus, a method of treating and preventing neurovascular complication of diabetes mellitus solving the aforementioned problem is desired.